Vacant Foodtown property would better serve Brick as a tax ratable

I, for one, think that Brick is a wonderful place to spend my remaining years. It has just about every service and convenience a person could ask for. Seniors and school children alike are being provided excellent quality-of-life amenities to complement their lifestyles. For this I’m glad.

Now, the negative side. These services didn’t grow on trees. Nobody gave a huge endowment; nobody donated their lottery winnings and certainly nobody got up before the town fathers at a meeting, demanding that their taxes be raised in order that we may continue to reap these wonderful perks. Taxation accomplished this.

Attracting businesses into our township has been the answer and will continue to be the answer for decades to come.

I question why has there been a problem with building another Home Depot on the vacant property on Route 70. I can imagine listening to our township business administrator addressing the public on this subject saying, "Good news –– we have enough money to purchase this property and convert it to a non-taxable item. But the bad news is that it is still in the pockets of the taxpayer."

Would it be wrong to ask for a moratorium on spending tax dollars for additional recreation fields? Would it be out of the question to invite another business like Home Depot or the likes thereof?

Finally, why can’t we ask for and receive a reduction on our taxes or at least let big business come in and pay their fair share? By doing this, we can level out the playing field and see tax relief in our lifetime.

Additionally, I don’t want to hear that monies or other governmental agencies, such as Green Acres, will pay for this property. A business located on this site will pay taxes forever.

Close your eyes and what do you see? That’s exactly what Brick would get from a nontaxable recreation facility: nothing. It makes sense to attract another taxpayer to this parcel of land.

Arthur Sholty

Brick